THE PASSIVE VOICE

ETSI. de Telecomunicaciones
English

THE PASSIVE VOICE

DEFINITION: Grammatical category which makes it

possible to view the actions of the sentence in two
ways without changing the facts reported (Quirk)

CLAUSE LEVEL: Putting a sentence into the passive

involves the rearrangement of two clause elements as
well as one addition. The first rearrangement is the
active subject becoming the passive agent, and the
second is the active object becoming the passive
subject. The addition is the preposition "by" introduced
before the agent.

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In sentences containing Od and Oi there

are two passive forms: either one or the
other can become the subject of the
passive; the Oi form is the most common
in English. This generally happens when
the Oi is animate.
e.g.: The company sent us all the
information required

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THE PASSIVE AUXILIARY: It is usually "to be",

though "get" may occur in similar functions.
The difference is that "get" expresses getting into a
state or situation denoted by the participle.
It has a mutative meaning which distinguishes it from
the ordinary passive and it is usually restricted to
constructions without an expressed animate agent.
e.g.: The electron population got pumped up by the
trigger mechanism

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The "get-pass." is avoided in formal style,

even in informal English is much less common
than the "be-pass.".
However, in some sentences containing
actional and stative passive, it is preferable to
use both so as to avoid ambiguity.
"Become" is practically interchangeable with
"get", though it expresses that the action took
place more gradually.

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e.g.: Engineers report (that) a new
generation of computers has been
developed. But we don't know how it got
developed.
We became fed up with the whole
proceeding.
English is getting/becoming more
important for scientific purposes.

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VOICE CONSTRAINTS: There are a

number of constraints which preclude a
simple paraphrase relationship between
the active and passive.
e.g.:
a. Engineers develop new
systems (One of their tasks is...)
b. New systems are developed
by engineers (Every new system is
developed ...)

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Five types of restrictions can be

distinguished:
1. Relating to verbs
2. Relating to objects
3. Relating to the agent
4. Relating to the meaning
5. Relating to the frequency of use

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1. Verbs a. Some verbs which are used in the
active only:

Intransitive vv., of course, but some transitive can't either:

e.g.: Have (non-possessive): The whole system had a breakdown
Lack: Though very powerful, Harrison's software lacks
reliability
Hold (=contain): The classroom holds 150 terminals
Resemble: The shape of the antenna resembles a parabola
Non-technical:
Become: That hair-do becomes you
Fit: These shoes don't fit me
Suit: Blue suits you

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b. Some verbs are used in the passive only:

"Say" and "repute", with the meaning of "consider".
e.g.: The company is reputed/said to be the most
important one in the field of optical fibres

c. Phrasal Verbs. When they've got a figurative

(idiomatic) meaning, the construction in the passive is
correct.
e.g.: The experts went into the matter / The miners
went into the tunnel

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2. Objects. Transitive verbs are followed

either by a nominal or a clausal object. A
nominal object is a NP, though the
clausal can be either a finite or a nonfinite clause. Non-finite clausal objects
can consist in either infinitive or participle
phrases.

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e.g.: The bleeper produced a shrill sound (NP)

Everybody thinks that mobile telephones
can be quite useful (Subord. finite noun
clause)
Everybody wants to have a mobile
telephone (Subord. non-finite infinitive clause)
Everybody likes showing off with mobile
telephones (Subord. non-finite -ING clause)

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A constraint exists when there is co-reference between the

subject and the nominal object containing a reflexive or a
reciprocal pronoun (or a possessive determiner or pronoun if it
refers to the subject), and this prevents passive transformation
e.g.: The committee congratulated the professor on the
results (Y)
The professor congratulated himself on the results (N)
The technician inserted the optical fibre with a splicer
(ensamblador) (Y)
The technician injured my hand with the splicer (Y)
The technician injured his thumb with the splicer (N)
Of the clausal objects, only those consisting of a finite clause
regularly take the passive (though sometimes it's not absolutely
correct)

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e.g.: (?)That mobile telephones are quite useful is
thought by everybody
**To have a mobile telephone is wanted by everybody

Finite clausal objects introduced by "that", "whether" or

"if" normally take the passive form with "it" as a
subject. And the clause remains in the post-verbal
position. If the clause occurs initially, "that" is
obligatory; if not, it's optional.
e.g.: We could hardly imagine that the system would
work at all. (It could hardly be imagined that.../ That
the system would work at all could hardly...)

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3. Agent.In the active sentence, the
subject is compulsory -either expressed
or understood-, but in the passive
transformation, the agent phrase is
optional. (According to Quirk, four out of
five sentences have no expressed
agent.) The agent is omitted in three
cases: when it's unknown, irrelevant or
redundant.

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e.g.: Someone has been sending false data since two
weeks ago.
They have taken this data seriously
The staff has been clearing the system and
checking it (The system has been cleared by the staff
and checked /The... cleared and checked by the staff)

Equally, in passive sentences where the agent is

unexpressed, it is often impossible to change them
into the active.
e.g.: At last, order has been restored without problems

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4. Meaning. A shift of meaning may accompany a shift of
voice in verb phrases containing auxiliaries which
have more than one meaning. In an active sentence,
CAN is normally interpreted as expressing ability; but
in a passive sentence it is more usual to express
possibility.
e.g.: The computer cannot do it (it is not able)
It cannot be done (non-permission)
The computer can use French fluently
French can be used fluently (possibility)
You cannot teach a computer (are unable)
A computer can't be taught (it's impossible)

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5. Frequency of use constraints. The main
statistic factor which determines the frequency
of the passive according to Quirk is the
distinction between informative and
imaginative use. Obviously, the passive is
more common in informative, scientific prose.
Six occasions when we actually use the passive:
a. To express ideas that require a reflexive or
impersonal construction in another language
e.g.: Se habla ingls aqu / On parle
Franais. (English is spoken here)

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b. When the active voice would involve the use of an indefinite or

vague pronoun or noun as the subject. (Unknown or irrelevant
subjects).

c. As a means of avoiding an awkward change of subject in the

middle of the sentence.
e.g.: The new speech recognition service was a success
and was immediately bought by the National Bank.

d. When we wish to make some statement sound impersonal for

reasons of modesty or when we have some unpleasant statement
to make.
e.g.. A lot of care has been taken with the present text.
The changes made in the running of the factory may result in
redundancy.

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e. To express an order more forcefully and

impersonally
e.g.: The device must be unplugged before
manipulation.

f. When we are more interested in what

happened to the subject than in what the
agent did.
e.g.: The transmission of data was illegally
interfered.

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THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION AFTER SOME VERBS IN THE
PASSIVE: There's a series of verbs which have two constructions in
the passive: one begins with "it" and the other includes the
infinitive. These verbs are
think, consider, know, acknowledge, believe, understand,
find, claim, report and say

The infinitive construction is more common and neater. Usually,

we find it with "to be", though it also occurs with verbs like "have",
"become", etc. (comment on "special passives" with "have").The
construction is also used with the passive infinitive.

With verbs of perception, the type of construction is going to be

the same.

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e.g.: People believed the world was flat

(The world was believed to be flat)
They consider Hollerith a predecessor of computers
(Hollerith is considered a predecessor of computers)
People acknowledge digital lines to be more efficient than
analogical ones
(Digital lines are acknowledged to be)
The newspapers report that the Hispasat is not operating at
its full capacity
(Hispasat is reported not to be operating at)
I saw that the hologram represented a model for a car
(The hologram was seen to represent)

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"Suppose" in the passive can be followed by

the present infinitive of any verb. The
construction generally conveys an idea of duty
and it's not usually the normal equivalent of
"suppose" in the active.
e.g.:
You are supposed to do your work (It
is your duty to do your work)
John is supposed to be working
(John ought to be working / People suppose
that John is working)

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Put into passive upgrading the subject of the that-clause

1. They claim that this program corrects your style
2. People say that a team of experts is working on the problem
3. They suppose that he discovered the technique by chance
4. They think he was working on something completely different
5. They believe that he is about to resign
6. There are rumors that he has set up his own company
7. They say that the police are looking into the matter
8. People suppose that the group has been putting a lot of pressure on
the government
9. They estimate that the cost of the scheme is well over six million
pounds
10. Everybody knows that the company has been overspending
11. People report that a new model is about to come out onto the market
12. They say that theres no solution to this problem

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Rewrite the sentences in the passive.

They gave up the search after three hours since the equipment had provoked a
failure.
Someone should look into the matter before it gets too complicated.
We had to put off the implementation until our Department proved it wouldnt
mean an increase of the expenses.
They gave me to understand that they would call on my services if they needed
them.
Don't plug the machine until we tell you to do so.
He will stop showing off if people take no notice of him.
His bank manager turned down his request for a loan, giving redundancy as a
result.
You must account for every pound you spent in case the manager requires an
explanation.
They pointed out that no one could deal with the matter until they knew all the
facts.
Events will bear out the truth of what I'm saying.
The DTE provides the subscriber with the data reception facilities.
He hates people making fun of him.